1. Before there was "Empire Records", there was a little atrocity known as "Record City". Imagine "Car Wash", but in a record store. It starred the affable Ed Begley, Jr. and "Boss Hogg" Sorrell Booke. The film also starred Ruth Buzzi, the always-quirky Kinky Friedman, "The Riddler" himself, Frank Gorshin, "The Love Boat"'s Ted Lange, Jeff Altman of "Pink Lady and Jeff" fame, and of course, Rick Dees ("Oy Vey! is not the word...). The "Record City" soundtrack included a song, "Gorilla Man", by Rick Dees. It also was penned by a man named KENI ST. LEWIS. Keni and Freddie Perren were old friends. Freddie used to write, arrange and produce songs for The Jackson 5 and other Motown acts under the name "The Corporation". "The Corporation" as it was listed on the labels, also included Berry Gordy, Deke Richards and Alphonso Mizell, who with his brother Larry, produced some hits for A Taste Of Honey, most notably "Boogie Oogie Oogie". Alphonso (or "Fonce" as he is known) was actually a high school classmate of Freddie's, too. Freddie would eventually team up with Keni St. Lewis, which resulted in a few hits. The first song Freddie and Keni wrote together was actually Michael Jackson's "Farewell My Summer Love", which was recorded in the 70's, but came out in 1984. Keni, who was a one-time member of both The Cairo's and The Enjoyables back in the 60's before going solo, would have his biggest success with a song from The Sylvers called "Boogie Fever". It was an instant #1 smash, and featured all nine of the Sylvers kids, including the youngest, Angelia and Pat. Other songs they would write together included "Hot Line" for the aforementioned Sylvers, "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel", "Whodunit", and "Don't Take Away The Music" by Tavares, "Freeway" by Peaches & Herb, and a pre-New Edition Johnny Gill's FIRST solo single from 1983, "Super Love". On the song, "Dr. Feelgood", one of the background singers was a woman named Minnie Riperton. You might remember her from a group known as Rotary Connection. She also had a #1 hit with "Lovin' You". Well, Keni was a co-writer on 1979's "Memory Lane", a song off of Minnie's final studio album before she succumbed to breast cancer. Keni also co-wrote "Lover & Friend" off of that same album. The song featured none other than Minnie's good friend, Stevie Wonder, under the pseudonym El Toro Negro (The Black Bull).

2. At one time, Keni also worked with Isaac Hayes. Isaac Hayes and BARRY WHITE would have a few things in common. They both had deep baritone voices, for one. They both recorded versions of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are". They collaborated on Barry White's single, "Dark And Lovely", featured on Barry's "comeback" album, 1991's "Put Me In Your Mix". They both visited Ghana together, where Isaac was named an actual KING! They also had their own female vocal groups in the 70's. Barry had his own Love Unlimited, and not to be outdone, Issac utilized his own female group, known as Hot Buttered Soul Unlimited, featured on his "Groove-A-Thon" album. Another fact is that they both recorded versions of the "Theme From Shaft". Of course, Isaac's definitive version was a #1 hit in 1971. Barry's version was featured on The Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Super Movie Themes" LP, which also inclued versions of "Night Fever", "Grease" and "The Theme From A Summer Place" (Cue that Simpsons I.D. now, Ron!).

3. THE EUROGLIDERS were formed in Perth, Australia, and featured Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch on vocals. Bernie also played guitar, and Amanda Vincent was their keyboardist. "Heaven (Must Be There)" was a #2 hit in Australia from their album, "This Island", and they followed it up with the Top 10 hits "We Will Together", "The City Of Soul", and "Can't Wait To See You" from their 1985 album, "Absolutely".

4. KLAUS NOMI was a German singer, born in Immenstadt, a town in Bavaria. He was known for his outlandish costumes and theatrical performances. "ICUROK" was one of his singles from 1982. The B-side, "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" was one of many unusual remakes he performed throughout his career. Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes" and Lesley Gore's "You Don't Know Me" were others, along with foreign originals like "Total Eclipse" and "The Nomi Song". David Bowie was so impressed with him, he invited Klaus to appear with him on a 1979 episode of "Saturday Night Live". In 1983, he became one of the first celebrities to die from complications with AIDS, a relatively unknown disease at the time. His influence on music and fashion continues even to this day.

5. BILLY SATELLITE was a California-based group known for their two singles, "I Wanna Go Back" and "Satisfy Me", both covered by Eddie Money at some point. The group was formed by Monty Byrom, who later led the country band Big House, and Danny Chauncey, their guitarist, who later left the band in 1987 to join another fairly successful band, .38 Special (replacing Don Barnes), still performing with them to this day. I guess you could say he got his "second chance" with them...

6. BILL LASWELL'S MATERIAL might be better known for helping a young girl named WHITNEY HOUSTON. You may have heard of her. Bill's song, "Memories", featured on the "One Down" album was Whitney's first recorded solo performance. Whitney's first-ever appearance on record, though, was singing backgrounds on a song called "Life's A Party", performed by The Michael Zager Band in 1978.

7. SPEEDWAY BLVD. was made up of Glenn Dove, Dennis Feldman, Greg Hoffman, Jordan Rudes and Roy Herring, Jr. They were produced by the team of Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz. Once known for producing bubblegum artists like The Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Co., and The Music Explosion (as well as such "luminaries" as Captain Groovy & His Bubblegum Army!), they made a name for themselves once again in the 70's, as producers on Ram Jam's ("Black Betty") self-titled debut. Dennis Feldman would later join Balance ("Breaking Away") for their second album, "In For The Count".

8. GAVIN CHRISTOPHER's first band featured none other than a pre-Rufus Chaka Khan! Later, he would go on to write "Once You Get Started" for Rufus. His sister, Shawn also had a Chaka connection. She sang back-up for Chaka for years, and finally had a hit of her own on the R&B charts with "Another Sleepless Night" in 1991. Gavin would go on to produce rap acts such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambataa. In 1986, he released his one and only hit, "One Step Closer To You". The song was also covered by Phil Collins' once-duet partner ("Seaparate Lives") Marilyn Martin. It has also been alleged that MJ himself dug the tempo and bassline of the song so much that he reproduced the sound for the intro to his hit, "The Way You Make Me Feel". Besides prodcing and writing "One Step Closer To You", Gavin's producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers wrote and produced Donny Osmond's hit, "Soldier Of Love", as well as his Top 10 smash, "Sacred Emotion". They also were responsible for writing "Street Of Dreams" for Nia Peeples and your favorite..."The Girl I Used To Know" by Brother Beyond! They also worked with The Brand New Heavies and Wild Orchid (Fergie's first group pre-Black Eyed Peas) in the 90's. Later, they wrote "God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You" for N'Sync, and Evan himself discovered a young girl named Rihanna (another name you might have heard of...), while vacationing in Barbados. Sturken and Rogers have been instrumental in her career ever since. Both of them were also members of the 90's group, Rhythm Syndicate, who had a big hit with "P.A.S.S.I.O.N." in 1991. If you listen to a CFTP favorite, "Yo Little Brother" by Nolan Thomas, you can even hear Carl Sturken playing guitar!